


Meant To Be

by Alley_Skywalker



Category: Unmistakable - Backstreet Boys (Song)
Genre: Boyband, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash, Searching for love, Unaware of Feelings, Unresolved Romantic Tension, pre-friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21845779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alley_Skywalker/pseuds/Alley_Skywalker
Summary: How are we to know the time is right? What if you're here and I'm just blind?
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Meant To Be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [puppylove7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppylove7/gifts).



Aiden never knew how it happened, how they fell into fame the way they did. Four boys from a small city screwing around on YouTube, recording songs they liked in Aiden’s garage, suddenly became small-scale celebrities when a talent hunter for a new label saw some of their covers and decided they were what he needed. How they ever managed to convince their parents to let them do this instead of finishing the last year of high school – second to last for Shane – and going off to their respective colleges was still a mystery to all of them. 

But there it was. In a matter of months, Aiden found himself transformed from a quiet boy who couldn’t get a date if he tried and wrote songs in his math notebooks, into a boyband front man, with his face plastered over local billboards and fanmail from girls he’d never even met popping up in his mailbox. Terry – his best friend from childhood and the one who could actually write music – had even better luck. Attractive and charming, he had been a big deal at their school before they were anything more than four boys in a garage. “Think of what you could do with all this leverage,” he had told Aiden happily, swinging an arm around his shoulders. “You can get the prettiest girls now.” 

He wasn’t wrong. Girls who had never looked at Aiden before suddenly wanted to go for coffee or dinner. Pretty girls that Aiden liked. But none of It seemed real, none of it felt like the kind of thing he wanted. Almost two years into fame and Aiden felt only more hopeless and lost than ever when it came to finding someone to love, that perfect person who would complete him. He had watched all the romantic comedies and tragedies. He knew it must happen someday. 

Aiden knew he was different from his friends in this. Vinnie was practical and poised, more interested in his books than romance; he spoke of relationships as though they were mathematical problems to be solved, like a magical formula of compatibility could be created if only people wanted to. Shane, imitating Terry on this account, was always looking for a good time, a satisfying hookup, without truly caring whether it lasted or not. Then there was Terry, who acted like he didn’t give a damn about romance, about love, always entertaining their group, and anyone else who would like to listen, with dick jokes and salacious tales of his own adventures. Although, Aiden was fairly certain that Terry made most of them up. 

Aiden had dreamt of romance since he was little. He was the only boy in his first-grade class to have watched all the Disney Princess movies, or even to be able to name a Disney Princess other than Cinderella and Snow White. He drank in the hope of these tales of romance and love, of believing that happiness will come to someone who wants it hard enough. That two people might look at each other and recognize their soulmate in the other’s eyes. 

Growing up had tempered his idealism only slightly. He still looked out into the crowd at their concerts, the faces blurring together, hidden by the glare of stage lights in his eyes, and wondered if the person he would fall in love with for the rest of his life was out there in that very moment. He lay awake at night and pondered this, wondered and worried if perhaps things weren’t quite like in the movies after all. That he could meet his soulmate on the street and not recognize that they’ve met. He could be too distracted or too in a rush because he was late to the studio and the Starkbucks line was long and Terry was blowing up his phone with nonsense again. 

Sometimes, he even wondered if a first date was enough to know. He’d gone on plenty of those in the past couple of years, but had never felt like there was enough of a spark, of a connection. But if such things don’t happen instantly, then how could he be certain than he hasn’t missed his chance? 

His producers, agents and managers said Aiden wrote songs because he was a romantic and an artist. But, in truth, he began to write songs because it was a way to put his feelings out where they could be heard but in an acceptable format that his friends would not find as grating and irritating than if he would have simply complained to them. Aiden thought this was why their songs were so successful – they were relatable to a lot of people, even those who did not want to admit it. 

Aiden and Terry had a favorite roof in their hometown. They found it when they were fourteen and now went there anytime one of them needed to get away or to discuss something important. They went there, without fail, the night before every tour or out-of-town concert. Terry said it was their lucky charm. Aiden liked to write there. They always went together, without Vinnie and Shane or any of their other friends. They sat on the edge, precariously dangling their legs over the alleyway below. The five-story building was higher than most of the other buildings in the area, and at night they had a good view of downtown, crowded with lights. 

Aiden had a song half-finished in his writing album when he climbed to _their_ roof that evening. He was pondering over the second verse and debating whether he should show Terry the draft. He started writing the song after his most recent breakup. He had been so certain that Rose would be _The One_. But then he had met a girl names Yulia on their last tour and realized he was wrong. But they left, and he never even got Yulia’s number, even though he kept thinking incessantly about her for the next few weeks. “What if she’s the one?” he had asked Terry sulkily after telling Rose they needed to break up. 

To this, Terry had only rolled his eyes and said, “Who? Rose or Yulia?”

Aiden, getting the hint, had dropped the subject. Terry wasn’t the right person to talk to about these things anyway, but he was also the only person Aiden truly trusted with his heart.

Aiden was surprised to see Terry there, sitting on the edge of the roof, swinging his legs over the precipice, as though he had been waiting for Aiden to show up. “Hey,” Aiden said, smiling and sitting beside him. “Guess it’s fate meeting you here.”

Terry rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, Aid, not tonight. What are you doing here?”

“Came to write. Been working on a new song.”

“Can I see?”

Aiden hesitated, knowing Terry’s penchant for laughing at Aiden’s lyrics when he found them too cliché and corny. But if he couldn’t even show Terry his work, how was he ever going to let anyone else see or hear it? “Sure.” Aiden took out the pages from his writing album and handed them over. 

Terry’s eyes skimmed over Aiden’s neat cursive. A slow smile crept over his face as he read out the chorus, “ _There'll come a day when you'll walk out of my dreams. Face to face, like I'm imagining. Baby how can I be sure, that you're the one I'm waiting for. Will you be unmistakable_?” He laughed softly and shook his head. “See _this shit_ is the reason why our primary audience is tween girls.” 

Aiden scoffed and reached to grab the pages back. “This shit, as you call it, is the reason we’re famous.”

“You’re right. Who let you be the songwriter for this band to begin with?”

“As though you could write lyrics.” 

“God, no. I wouldn’t want that fate.” Terry fell dramatically onto his back, folding his arms under his head, and looked up at Aiden with glistening eyes. Strands of dark, wavy hair fell over his forehead and Aiden had the irrational desire to reach out and stroke them back from his face. “But I could be less saccharine, that’s for sure.”

“You think it’s so easy? I’m taking suggestions for the second verse. Haven’t been able to come up with anything decent for days. 

Terry shrugged. “Ok, I’ll take you up on that. Can I keep the drafts?”

“Sure.” They fell silent for a moment before Aiden said, seriously, “Don’t laugh at this one. It’s kind of…personal.”

“Oh really? Aren’t all your songs dedicated to some girl you’ve had a crush on at some point in your life?”

“And that one guy…”

“Oh yes, your one gay experience.”

Aiden reached out and smacked his shoulder. “I was serious about it.”

“Sure.”

“And I’m serous about this. I’ve had so little luck with dating….I know there’s still lots of time and stuff, and we’re always busy touring and recording the album and all… But that’s the thing, you know? Among all these other things…will I even be able to recognize my true love? I don’t know what she – or he – looks like, sounds like. What they do, who they are. How am I supposed to…what if I make a mistake?”

Terry sighed with a slight note of frustration. “So you break up and try again. It’s not rocket science.”

Aiden pulled his knees up to his chest. “But it’s hard and it hurts. And I don’t want to miss my chance. It would suck so much to go through life without finding the right person.” The downtown city lights sparkled in the distance and Aiden nested his chin on his knees. Behind him, Terry shifted but didn’t sit up. 

“You’re so melodramatic, Aid. You’ll find someone. Maybe multiple someones. Serial monogamy and all that.” 

“I hate that expression.” They fell silent again “So why are you here?” Aiden asked finally. 

“Just had to…get away from stuff.”

“Like what?”

“I had a fight with Jerry. You know, the know the assistant producer for the _Silence_ video.” 

Aiden looked over at him sharply. Fighting with the label was never a good idea. “What did you guys fight about?”

“I just…” Terry looked away from Aiden and stared up at the sky. Very few stars were visible because of the urban lighting, but some could still be made out, sparkling merrily against the dark canvas of night sky. “You know I’m gay.”

“Yea, I think everyone does.”

“Right. But they want me to pretend like I’m not—”

“That’s not true—”

“Or at least ignore it. I wrote more of that song than you did but the romance in the video will be you with some girl they cast from some off-brand modeling agency.” 

Aiden’s eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t realize you wanted to star in the video. I don’t mind, you know. Do you want me to tell Jerry you can do it? Actually, didn’t we talk about this? That _Silence_ was going to be your video. That song is as much yours as mine.” They had practically co-written that song on this very roof, snuggled together under three blankets in nippy early March. 

“Yea, but I said I didn’t want to do some heterosexual romance. That’s not who I am. And not for that song. It’s the only one of our repertoire I really relate to, you know? No, offence, Aid, it’s not that I hate your stuff so much, but it’s usually about _your_ relationships. But this is something we really created together and…” Terry bit his lip. 

Aiden shifted so he could more easily look at Terry. “Yea, I get it. It’s stupid that they won’t let you do a gay romance. Listen…I’ll back you up. I’m sure Vinnie and Shane will too.” 

Terry chewed at his lip, as though uncertain if he should say what was on his mind. Aiden gave him a slight nudge of encouragement. Terry looked away as to not meet Aiden’s eyes and said, “Well, there’s one more thing…”

“What?”

“I kind of…I thought we should do the video together. Be the main two characters together. Why not, right? Other bands do it that way. We wrote the song together.”

“Oh.”

Terry was still not looking at him, sudden, unusually for him, embarrassed. “So I don’t know how you feel about that…” 

Aiden thought about that for a moment. He has never considered the idea, but it didn’t sound crazy. In fact, it sounded oddly fitting. But mostly, he wished Terry would meet his eyes. “Terry, look at me. Please.”

Terry looked up, his expression blank as it often was when he tried to hide fear or pain. Aiden reached out and tugged on his wrist, making him sit up. They were face to face and Aiden felt strangely flushed as he said, “I think it’s a great idea. I think we should – all four of us – tell Jerry and the label just that. That that’s how we want to do the video.”

“Seriously?” Terry sounded uncertain. 

“Yea. I think we should.” 

Terry beamed and it was infectious. Aiden grinned back at him and realized, belatedly, that he was still holding on to Terry’s wrist. They looked at each other and Aiden’s breath caught. He was not sure why. Terry had been a constant in his life for almost as long as he could remember himself. They knew everything about each other. They had always supported each other. But that _exact_ moment seemed monumental somehow. Aiden swallowed and took his hand back. 

Terry started to hum like he did when he wrote music and fished a pen out of his jacket. 

“What are you doing?”

Terry didn’t answer but quickly scribbled down a few lines on the pages Aiden had given him. “Wave of inspiration, I guess.” He grinned and handed the pages back to Aiden. “Here’s your second verse. I gotta go, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Aiden watched Terry climb down from the roof, then read what he had written, squinting in the dim light. 

_People say we're watching our lives through a glass  
Desperately waiting on a chance  
I know you're out there, holding on, holding out for me  
How are we to know the time is right  
What if you're here and I'm just blind_

It was good, brilliant almost. Like everything Terry did. 

Aiden lay down on his back, putting his backpack under his head, and looked up into the sky. He tried to imagine what the person he would fall in love with for the rest his life might look like – an idle pastime he had indulged in lately. 

But all he could see was the spark in Terry’s eyes when Aiden said he would co-start in the _Silence_ music video with him. 

All he could see was Terry.


End file.
